Need a new ball joint. Which control arms and bushings?

[clydesdale]

I need a new driver's ball joint. I figured I'd replace the control arm. From what I have read Lemforder is the way to go. But what arms and what bushings. I have read about 96+ m3 arms and such like that. I have the standard wheels on my 87 325is. What would M3 cab do? What about replacing the stock with "powerflex" parts from bimmer world. I have searched the forum for the past hour and I am still not sure of what I need here. I have the stock suspension. Thanks.
Jeff

[Brianmoooore]

The '96 M3 control arm is only used as a method of getting the suspension geometry anywhere near acceptable when using E36 front struts on an E30. Not relevant to your problem.
Lemforder control arm is good, but use with a pair of GENUINE E30 M3 control arm bushes, from the zone genuine BMW parts dept.
Don't forget to set up the tracking afterwards.
Leave the powerflex rubbish to the Saxo/Corsa brigade. It has no place on a BMW!

[clydesdale]

What do you mean by setting up the tracking? Do you mean an alignment? Thanks.

[daimlerman]

Reckon the OP will find his local stealer a better bet for parts than the zone dealer!! I have polybush M3 pattern bits and find them exellent,lighten the steering as well as improving turn in and location of the wishbone. After any kind of suspension work a check of the tracking(would you call ajustment of the track rod ends alignment?) is a good idea.

[gingebmx]

I bought genuine M3 bushes for my M-tech 1 (87 325i sport) and they have transformed the front end.
The steering is a bit heavier but much more feel, better turn in oh and I havent got the tracking done yet (yeah I know!), I really recommend the genuine M3 ones.
I also did all ball joints (I have a press but in hindsight I would have bought the arms whole!) and anti roll bar drop links, no wonder the front end feels planted now!!

[clydesdale]

Do you need a press for the control arm bushings? I bought lemforder arms and e30 m3 bushings. Now I need to figure out if I can press them in with usual tools or if I need to bring them somewhere to get pressed. Any thoughts on the difficulty to press these? Thanks

[Brianmoooore]

Control arm bushes can be pressed into the lollipops by a decent vice, or, failing that, by a large hammer and a block of wood.
The bush can just about be pushed onto the pin of the control arm by hand, but it is essential to use a lubricant that dries up and is not permanent.

[clydesdale]

Thanks. For the lubricant, how about a light amout of dish soap? I am not sure of what else to use that would dry up.

[Brianmoooore]

50:50 mix of washing up liquid or soap will do the job.
It's important to get the car down on its wheels before the lubricant dries, so that the bush can twist to it's normal static position. I usually then wash off any excess soap with hot water.

[clydesdale]

Thanks for the tips. Any other pearls of wisdom? I heard that I will need a 22mm stubby wrench for the CABs. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for your help.

[gingebmx]

I used a 22mm socket (1/2" drive) and lots of extension bars so i could undo the CABs from the top better than bashing your hands to bits! But you do need about 2-3 foot!
I used a club hammer to bash the old CABs out of the sub frame as my ball joint splitter (hinged one) wasn't big enough, have to be careful not to tw*t anything else though!

[clydesdale]

I was sent the right control arms but was sent e36 M3 cab, not e30. Is this ok or do I need to return these? Thanks

[clydesdale]

They are from the 95 m3 and are offset. The guy I spoke with seemed to know his stuff and mentioned something about these being solid. But I wanted the e30 ones. Are these ok?

[gingebmx]

I couldn't tell you, the e30 m3 ones are offset but the size of the bush could be different.
Have a look and measure the diameter of the bush and the hole for the arm if they are the same as the ones on your e30 you might be ok